AC TO THE MAX: J-Life 2009 Highlights: Part 6

African Realities

One of the most impactful weeks in my first four months here in South Africa was "African Realities Week." One fateful Tuesday morning, we rolled out of bed for our 6:30AM prayer meeting, like usual, and little did we suspect that that day would be anything other than the norm. However, when we arrived for the prayer meeting, we were met by Tara, a J-Life staff member, who informed us that we had just entered "African Realities Week." This week was designed to give us a taste of what life is like for the majority of people in Africa. Whatever we were wearing at that moment, those were our clothes for the week. Whatever we had on us, those were our possessions for the week. We were allowed to get one blanket and pillow from our dorms, at which point the dorms were locked for the week.

We were then divided up into nine different groups of society: illegal immigrants, recently released convicts, AIDS children, a child-led household, illiterate single mothers, orphaned children, subsistence farmers, the middle class, and the upper class. Then, according to our social class categories, we were allotted a certain amount of money to get us through the week. Some groups were given nothing (i.e. orphaned children) and were forced to beg off of other groups, while other groups were given a large allowance (i.e. upper class). We then had to walk 6 miles to the road and take a taxi into town to buy food for the week.

My group was the recently released convicts. We were given a dollar a day to live off of for the week. With some smart shopping, our weekly meals included bread, cereal, peanut butter, pap (mashed maize), and ramen noodles. We also made the upper class guys "an offer they couldn't refuse"--we were recently released convicts, of course--and they bought us a bag of rice.

Throughout the week, we learned all about issues that Africans face--issues such as AIDS, poverty, disease, and lack of education. We had no access to electricity all week, and we were given no shelter until nighttime, when we had to pay rent to sleep on a hard wood floor indoors. Each morning we were woken up early to work manual labor jobs. A few days of "African Reality" was enough to open my eyes to how incredibly blessed I truly am.

One experience that I will never forget is going to the medical clinic in Balfour to get tested for AIDS. After learning all about AIDS, the lack of health and sex education in Africa, and the fear many Africans have of being tested, we were given the opportunity to get tested ourselves. Inside the clinic, we sat in a waiting room full of nervous faces, some of which would undoubtedly face their worst fears that day. Even though I have not engaged in any activities that would make me susceptible to the disease, I still found myself nervous going in for the test. What a life-changing experience...